By Dr. Marvin Miller, AIB President

Last month, I wrote about the value of trees. I cited many of the benefits we often discuss: the ability of trees to reduce smog, to reverse the effects of climate change, to improve mental health, to produce oxygen while sequestering carbon, and the like. But in just this past week, my perspective of a tree’s value was broadened, as I traveled with a pair of America in Bloom judges, shadowing them, as they evaluated the city where I’ve worked for almost 30 years, West Chicago, Illinois.

Over the 12 years of America in Bloom, I have spoken with many judges, attended judges training several times, read more than a few judges’ evaluations, and counseled both judges and city volunteers about their judging experiences. I have also interacted with judges while they were judging several nearby communities. I feel I have had a good perspective of what the judges go through. I also have a new-found perspective on what the cities go through while preparing for judges’ visits, while hosting the judges and touring them through their communities, as well as the aftermath, when judges counsel cities on what they were both positively and not-so-positively impressed with. But this is the first time I have spent two full days with our pair of judges as they completed their visits to a community, and I was not prepared for one particular emotional experience.

This week’s travel indeed did provide a new impression for me, when I heard the park district’s contract forester, Phil Graf, tell the story of cleaning up downed trees following a massive storm of a year ago that hit West Chicago’s Reed-Keppler Park. The July 1, 2012 storm destroyed and damaged trees in the city’s largest park (118 acres) in the center of town. In total, the park lost 163 trees, including 81 mature red, white, and burr oaks. Overall, 15.6 percent of the park’s tree canopy was destroyed in a matter of moments. But what made the telling so emotional was the line Forester Graf used as he described, for probably the hundredth time in the last year, the utter devastation that greeted him following the storm: “These are trees I remember playing under in my youth.”

In that one line, I acknowledged professionalism and dedication. I recognized a sense of community and heritage. I certainly experienced both his emotion as well as my own. But I also discovered a new significance to associate with trees: Memories. His story reflected his childhood memories, as well as those of countless others who had visited Reed-Keppler Park. His emotion recalled my childhood memories from hundreds of miles away, just as they recalled his, just minutes from where we were meeting. His line reflected the community’s heritage and explained his professionalism and his dedication.

The memory created by a tree: this was indeed a new and meaningful experience!